Is your New Year’s resolution to lose weight in 2012?

It is not uncommon to approach resolutions with lots of enthusiasm at the start.

After a couple weeks however, your enthusiasm often lessens and it’s easy to fall back into old habits.

These old habits seem comfortable and easy to fall back into, but they don’t help you lose weight or improve your health.

Before you give up on this year’s resolution to lose weight and even before you start, consider this:

  • Are you ready? Is this a good time in your life to make that commitment? Can you devote time to planning and implementing the changes?
  • Do you have a good plan? Much of your success is in the planning. Write your diet out and make exercise an actual appointment on your calendar you must keep, or else.
  • Can you enjoy the process? Many find that when they exercise and lose weight they feel better. Also, there are lots of great tasting foods that are also healthy and abundant sources to find them.
  • Focus on short term “process” goals while keeping long term “outcome” goals in mind. Losing 40 pounds is done one pound at a time. Examples are committing to eat one more serving of fruits and vegetables every day or walking 30 minutes per day. Emphasize short term process goals to eventually reach the long term outcome goal of losing weight.

Always remember that weight loss can be a slow process. Be patient as there is no “quick fix”.

If you are struggling to keep up a diet and exercise program during the program, your chances of maintaining weight loss diminish considerably after the program ends.

Therefore, by developing sustainable strategies from the beginning, you will likely be able to maintain your weight loss.

Daily exercise should always be a part of a healthy lifestyle along with a healthy diet!

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